The next day, Gaara went into Hogsmeade village to get food. Though 'get' might have been the wrong word, 'steal' seemed more appropriate to Gaara.
As the tanuki-host reached the town, he was relieved to be among other people after so long in that one room; which wasn't to say that he didn't like Sirius, not at all, the man had been very good to him and despite his despised nickname he had no real problem with the man. Well… except maybe the smell.
It was uncanny, the way the man smelled almost exactly like a wet-dog.
It was refreshing for Gaara, to be able to walk through a village and not be watched like a monster or even recognised. He did get one or two bewildered looks for the tattered and strange clothes he wore as well as his universally strange appearance, the red spiky hair, black-rimmed scary eyes, and the prominent tattoo on his forehead.
After he had entered the main street of Hogsmeade, Gaara sought out the nearest back alley and crouched down behind a rubbish bin. When he was sure he was hidden he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small sand coloured ball he had dropped in there the day before.
He opened his palm and let it float just above his hand before it dispersed into a small flurry of granules, moving freely like a miniature sandstorm. Almost immediately after, the cloud snaked down to the ground and formed into a loose gaseous drill shape and burrowed in between the cobblestone floor of the alley and out of sight.
Most of the sand outside of the Shrieking Shack was unusable, the only reason he could use the small amount Sirius had brought him was precisely because of its small quantity. He had thus decided to create an all-new gourd out of the rocks in this world. From the small amounts he'd been able to break down outside of the shack, this world's minerals took in his chakra just as well as the ones in his own world. Gaara had needed to come into the local village in order to survey what other types of stone were in the area; the rocks around where he was currently living were all far too hard to break down with the meagre amount of sand at his disposal.
As it would be several hours before he would have enough sand to fill his gourd, which he would also have to make, Gaara left the back alley and went towards the relatively busy high street. There he found a bench situated outside a shop and sat down in order to concentrate on controlling the sand that was now grinding its way around underground. Fortunately, for such a highly trained shinobi, meditation for a few hours was child's play.
Unfortunately for the ex-insomniac, he hadn't quite mastered the practices of sleeping and waking up. As such, when he sat down and closed his eyes to 'meditate' for an hour or two, he didn't expect to wake up twelve hours later, in the dark, with a dog nudging his leg insistently.
Gaara quickly surveyed his surroundings upon waking, like he'd recently been trained, and soon realised his folly. It was late, really late. All of the residents of the small village had since deserted the streets and it was rapidly cooling down outside.
Gaara looked down at Sirius, A.K.A. the dog, and ruffled the fur on the top of its head before chuckling silently at how it moved its head into the touch. The dog was large and smelly and had dark fur; ironically the red-head could only think how similar it was to Sirius.
Gaara walked away from the apparently stray dog and back into the back alley when he decided he'd given the poor mongrel enough attention. He had no more time to spare, seeing as how he had said he'd be back in an hour or two and it had since been half a day. His private nurse-maid would surely be hysterical by this point.
When he was back in the darkened corner of the inner village, he stood straight this time whilst he looked around to see nobody around except the smelly black dog who sat patiently off to the side. Deciding to ignore the non-sentient being, Gaara raised his arm until it was fully outstretched and parallel with the ground before splaying his fingers and bringing his other hand to just a few inches away from his chin and forming the ram seal. Soon, the ground started to rumble lightly, making Sirius-dog whine uncertainly.
Not long after, a stream of sand started to fall upwards out of the hole that he himself had drilled into the cobbled street. The flow continued until the ball of sand floating before him was roughly twice the size of a beach ball, turning slowly above of Gaara's outstretched arm.
Gaara looked intently at the ball of sand before closing his hand, forcing his chakra into the shell of the sand whilst watching it transform into his nostalgic gourd shape, complete with the red markings and cork. The sand-gourd floated around to Gaara's back before being tied on. He felt elated to have the familiar feeling of the giant sand container affixed to his back.
Sirius had gotten worried when his ward hadn't come back after several hours, so he had changed into dog form to find him. He had looked everywhere that the mute teen could've been hiding until he finally got a chance to look around the busier parts of Hogsmeade when most of the wizards and squibs had cleared out.
He found the sleeping teen sitting on one of the numerous benches that littered the busy wizarding village.
Earlier that day, many of the regulars to Hogsmeade village had heard rumours and seen the mysterious red-haired racoon boy asleep on a public bench. At one point, a half-giant from a local school had attempted to get close to the boy to wake him up out of concern, but when he got within five feet, the boy had let out a blood chilling growl without waking up, a growl that could well have been a snore from the usually silent sleeper. From that point on, no one attempted to rouse the beast container, until a large black dog came walking along at night.
With his trusted gourd now back where it belonged, Gaara strode into the high street again and looked around until he found the local bakery, which luckily still had a few loafs out on display in the shop front. Gaara didn't particularly like the idea of stealing, but he didn't have any money, nor did he know what currency these 'wizards' used. Sirius had explained the more generalised information regarding this world he found himself in but there were still massive amounts he didn't know.
As Gaara stood by the bakery's front door, the cork in the gourd turned into sand before the small amount floated into the lock of the old styled wooden door; soon an audible click was heard allowing him access. Gaara didn't enter the bakery himself, he merely had a tendril of sand swoop in and pick up a pair of loaves of before closing the door and relocking it.
The red-head wrapped up the bread, and silently and motionlessly commanded the sand to fly out of his gourd and in front of him. He piled up the sand until it was a foot thick and two feet wide, plenty of room to stand on. Gaara looked down at the old mangy dog that had followed him with a look of awe on its face unlike any dog that had come before it, before floating off on the sand platform.
The mangy dog wasn't too happy about this latest turn of events. As quickly as his doggy legs would take him, the escaped convict sprinted back to the Shrieking Shack. Fortunately, after the lengthy run, he discovered he had in fact arrived first.
That night they both quietly sat and ate the bread without Sirius even attempting to start another conversation or rant. He had been shocked by the Suna-nin's control over the sand, without a wand or any magical artefact. But Sirius was a man with his own secrets, and he wasn't going to pressure his new friend over his.
OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The next day for Gaara was started by a rather rude awakening by a nervous and sickly looking brunette disturbing his slumber.
Gaara had been woken by the loud knocking that presumably came from the shoes of whoever was approaching. He waited, safe in the knowledge that he could kill whoever it was before they could scream for help, if they meant any harm to himself or his friend. However, when the man had burst into the room he seemed even more startled by the presence other than Sirius, than Gaara had been that an intruder had entered the room so brazenly.
Remus Lupin had been the one to help Sirius get to the Shrieking Shack, being one of the few people who knew the real reason it made the terrible sounds on the nights of the full moon and that it was entirely abandoned. Then he had left, a couple of days before Gaara's arrival, to deal with some problems that had arisen with his application for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post.
When he had arrived back at Hogwarts to drop off his books and most of his other worldly possessions, he had not been given the chance to visit his oldest living friend until the entire teaching staff had been ordered to patrol the surrounding area and warn the villagers that there would be a sweep by the dementors.
In the years to come, Lupin came to wonder exactly how much Dumbledore had really known about his involvement with Sirius' escape during that time. Nonetheless, his unaccountable time patrolling was the perfect opportunity to warn his friend.
"Padfoot, who is this?" Lupin exclaimed as he looked down at the strange teenager who was looking directly back at him with unnerving eyes.
As Sirius groggily sat up, resting back on one elbow, he replied, "His name is Lily." He quickly corrected himself as he saw the terrifying glare that was now being directed towards him, "-at least, that's what I call him. His real name is Gaara."
"Gaara?"
"I still think Lily suits him better; you see it too, don't you? The resemblance..." Sirius remarked whilst hoisting himself up to standing position.
Lupin was about to laugh at his friend's antics but was too off put by the boy who was now sitting cross-legged under the blankets, glaring intently at the man with the beard.
"I meant, where did he come from?"
"Gaara here is a 'shinobi' from another country," Sirius said before continuing after he saw a blank look on his friends face, "He was badly injured, so I thought I would take care of him until he was back to full health."
"Is he a, um… muggle?" Lupin all but whispered the last part, as if it was curse, although in actuality it was that he didn't want to say a wizarding term in front of a suspected muggle.
"Well, no and yes," Said Black, with a slightly confused look on his face, much like the one on Lupin's own face. "He can use magic, but he's never been schooled in wizardry. Not our kind of wizardry, anyway."
"Excuse my friend here," Lupin had turned to the now calm looking Gaara, "Sirius here has the best intentions but… why don't you tell me about yourself."
After ignoring the pretend offence the man behind him had displayed at his casual insult, Remus waited for the answer that didn't come until Sirius exclaimed, "Oh! Right! I forgot to mention, Gaara can't talk."
"Don't you think it would have been a good idea to tell me that first, Sirius?" Lupin sighed and he apologized to the annoyed mute.
"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, Moony?" Sirius swiftly changed the subject.
"Well, I was going to tell you that there's going to be a sweep of the area by dementors soon, and the professors were told to go and warn anyone not on the run about it, but I thought it might be nice if I gave you a heads up as well." Lupin said, shortly before turning on his heel and walking to the broken old door out of the bedroom they were currently in. "I suggest you turn into Padfoot and make yourself scarce before the monsters are upon you. Gaara, you may want to find somewhere a little more sheltered until they pass, too."
"Thank you, old friend. I'll see you again soon, I hope."
"Maybe. It was nice meeting you, Gaara."
And with those few words, the short visit was over.
"Will you be okay without me for a few hours?" Sirius asked.
*Nod*.
"Okay, good. Just go and wait in Hogsmeade for a while until the all clear is sounded and then come back here." He said as he too turned towards the pale green door, "And if you feel a chill or hear that a dementor is near, run. They are evil creatures that will suck the soul out of you if you cross them."
Another *nod*.
"I'll see you later; I need to talk to you about something when I get back. I might be going away for a few days."
Soon Gaara was left in the old room all on his own and didn't waste any time before strapping his gourd to his back and walking out of the house, attaching his forehead protector around his neck to hide his most prominent visible scar as he walked.
The streets of Hogsmeade were barren with no more than two or three wizards quickly scuttling around with terrified looks set upon their faces. 'Oh, how nostalgic.' Gaara bitterly thought, 'Just like home; all it needs now is-'
"Monster!" Gaara was surprised when it actually happened.
About twenty feet down the street, stood a man backing away slowly from a floating black hooded… monster. The thought, 'At least he wasn't talking to me...' passed through the shinobi's mind briefly before he started to walk forwards, towards the disturbance.
He couldn't just sit back and watch someone get their soul sucked out; plus, he wanted to use his powers properly for the first time since his arrival in this strange land. Stretch his proverbial legs.
As soon as the red head had come within ten feet of the wraith-like creature, it seemed to spasm into activity and completely ignored the man who was now running for his life, or, rather, his soul.
The dementor seemed to swim through the air towards the tanuki-host who had since removed the cork from his gourd and was readying himself for the dementor's attack. It came close to him, and that was when he felt its terrible effects, except they didn't seem all that terrible to him, in fact, he barely noticed the difference except the temperature drop.
The only other effect that Gaara felt was that he began to relive every bad word said to him and every one of his murders and rampages, but Gaara was not ashamed to admit that he had never forgotten those travesties. He may have been reliving them more vividly than he had in his most daunting nightmares, but he wasn't bothered by the recollection. He was a boy with a sad past, one of the saddest pasts in either of the two worlds, and so the dementors were predictably drawn to him, but he would never forget the bad things that had happened and the bad things he had caused. Like someone had once taught him, he couldn't be distracted by dwelling on the horrors of his past, just move forward and protect those who were precious to him.
In other words, he was depressed even without the help of dementors.
The dementor was so close to Gaara, only now could he really appreciate the size of the reaper, all eight feet of it.
Just as one of its disgusting, deformed and decomposing arms slid towards his neck with every intention of choking him half to death before Kissing the soul out of him, just as the fingers were within grabbing distance of his hitai-ate, a wall of sand seemed to appear out of nowhere next to the prison guard before slamming into it with such force that it was sent into the side of the building over thirty feet away.
Unfortunately for Gaara, because of the almost liquid form of the thing, it was still able to fly away after the savage beating it had just received, without so much as a stumble or twitch.
Shaking off the persistent chill, the Jinchūriki walked away hoping he would get another chance to get some battle practice before he returned to the Shack.
It was about an hour later, an hour of boredom and aimless wandering without seeing a single human or dementor in all of that time, when he spotted another human being. The man was relatively tall, was wearing black robes and had shoulder-length black hair, which was greasier than… anyone or anything he could think of.
The man had a nasty sneer on his face as he strolled through the village with his arms crossed in front of his chest, which made Gaara smile a little at the similarity to his own fighting pose. The similarities seemed to begin and end there as the man approached Gaara and looked straight down his nose at the short, odd looking boy who also had his arms crossed which he immediately disliked.
"Boy," He spoke demanding respect "What are you doing out here? Or are you too simple to understand that dementors are patrolling this area for the mass murderer Sirius Black?" Each syllable of the acidic and rhetorical question was pronounced clearly and concisely making it all the more annoying.
Gaara really wished he could speak because there were a few choice words he might have spoken to the patronising man before him, and most of them would have earned him a lengthy lecture from Temari.
"Who are you, anyway? I would have remembered instructing someone like you. A tourist?" He questioned Gaara, giving a curious and almost disgusted look towards Gaara's tattered and foreign clothes. "You couldn't be a student of Hogwarts. Now tell me who you are and what is that ridiculous thing on your back?" He said fully expecting the small boy before him to break down and tell him anything he wanted to know.
Contrary to his well-founded expectations, no changes could be seen in the boy's expression except a contemptuous glare had formed on his face.
"By the looks of your hair I might even hazard a guess at a Weasley. Now, answer me!" Snape was getting angry by this juncture. Just the defiant look upon the strange boy's face was enough to ignite rage in him and was further fuelled by the boy's continuing silence.
Without as much as an explanatory gesture, Gaara gave the man a quick once-over before turning around and walking away.
This, of course, enraged Snape sufficiently to draw his wand at the boy, hoping to scare the retch, but no sooner had his hand come out of his pocket than the ground around them began to frost over.
Snape immediately regretted being there. As a relatively powerful wizard, Snape could defeat around a dozen dementors or so with relative ease, but swooping down on them were around twenty-five and they seemed intent on the young tattooed boy who had since stopped walking and was standing completely still with his arms crossed and a almost unnoticeable smirk on his face, confirming Snape's suspicion of madness.
'Does the boy not know what is happening here?' Snape backed away, hoping another one of the professors might chance by them and help, otherwise the boy was going to be Kissed by the dementors. Snape might have been able to fight off the dementors present, but by the time he had scared them off, he would have been at the mercy of anything else that deemed fit to do him harm, including other dementors searching the area or even Sirius Black.
The entire multitude swam around Gaara and, for a moment, it looked as if he wasn't even there, just a pile of swirling black capes were visible but then something strange, even for wizards, happened. Out of nowhere, dozens of sand-coloured lances burst from the sphere of dementors, killing many of them. The rest continued circling around the ball of sand covered in the large spikes that had impaled the billowing monsters only moments before.
Snape was at a loss for words. No magic he had ever heard of could do this.
His short-lived musings were interrupted by the transformation of the spikes on the outside of the ball of sand into pointed tentacles that easily outnumbered the remaining prison guards. They soon finished off the last of the remaining monsters, receding into the ball of sand afterwards, before that too dissolved back into the gourd on the small red-head's back. Severus hadn't even noticed his mouth had been left agape until the boy had started to walk away again.
The potions master was unsure whether it would be wise to take the boy back to the castle, but as he watched the red-head walk away from him, he didn't have time to think things through more fully. He ran towards the boy and was about to grab his shoulder so he could drag him back to the castle, however, when his hand was within a few inches of the boy's body, a shield of sand stopped it from progressing any further.
"Boy, come with me!" He commanded, trying once again with the other shoulder only to once again be stopped by the protective layer of sand that had hindered him before.
After the second attempt at grabbing him had failed, Gaara walked slightly faster away from the strange man who had, at first, seemed repulsed by the very sight of him and inclined to insult him. But now this strange man seemed intent on getting Gaara to go with him. It was only when Gaara noticed the man was still following him that he relented. He couldn't risk leading this incredibly irritating man, apparently a teacher, back to Sirius and the Shack.
Gaara turned around on his heel to look the man-of-grease in the eye.
Severus was shocked by this fortunate turn of events, though not for long as he spoke soon after, "Follow me, and quickly."
The shinobi did consider using the body-flicker technique to escape or attacking the man and running, but from what he had heard of magic from Sirius, who was undoubtedly still skulking around the woods, the hook-nosed wizard would probably be able to use some sort of spell to track him. In any case, he realised that his best bet would be to follow the taller man to wherever he needed to follow him to and sneak away later. In the worst case scenario he could simply use his sand and perform a little burial.
It's hard for a corpse to track someone.
Snape had turned around when the other boy had signalled he would follow, and started to walk back to Hogwarts. Whatever this boy had done was remarkable and he guessed it was due to that strange item on his back. No doubt that it was some sort of dark magical artefact, but something like that could be quite useful to them in the future.
The trek was quite difficult for the pale potions expert, as opposed to the trained ninja who often took longer strolls to relax after a mission. By the time they had both reached the castle, the sky was just beginning to dim.
Snape then had to think of how to get the senior teachers attention without owling them or going around to each of their offices one by one. It was times like these that he wished he could use the Dark Mark. That'd get their attentions quickly enough.
What irritated the man more than the thought of having to traipse around the entire castle was the sight of professor Dumbledore standing outside of the entrance, flanked by Lupin, McGonagall and Argus Filch; that Albus had foreseen the boy and he were coming irked him greatly.
The resident caretaker seemed disgruntled to be there, though his unhappiness was closely rivalled by Snape himself who wanted nothing more than a quiet year of teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, but once again he had been passed over for the job.
"Good evening, Severus," Albus quietly said as he welcomed the incoming pair into the castle.
Gaara wasn't quite sure what to say, he couldn't have said it even if he knew, but nonetheless he wouldn't have known what to say anyway. He had followed the grossly unfit man towards the expansive castle that was bigger than the Kazekage's building and the Daimyo's castle combined. None of this awe, however minor, showed on the mute's face as they approached the open doors of the enormous castle.
"Headmaster," Snape greeted in his usual terse manner before stepping to the side so that the teen following him could walk to the front and the others could deal with him. "I was searching the village for Black, and warning villagers of the dementors, when I saw this boy-" He said, giving the scary child a quick glance, "-kill over twenty dementors, without a wand."
At that statement, most gasped and even Dumbledore lowered his gaze so that he could look directly at the boy. What really scared the old man were the boy's eyes. No matter the feat that Severus had reported the boy to have done; those eyes told so many more chilling and unknowable stories that for the first time in longer than he could recall, a child sent a chill down his spine. None of this showed on his face of course, but it was deeply unsettling.
"What's your name, young man?" He said, managing to avoid concentrating on the eyes of the boy in front of him.
"He won't speak," Snape said with pure malice dripping off his voice.
"Can you speak?" Albus asked slowly and caringly.
Gaara calmly shook his head, confirming the old man's suspicions. Gaara reached back and pulled the cork out of his gourd of sand, which instantly made Severus draw his wand. He had seen the destructive force of this boy's weapon and he wasn't about to risk letting a massacre happen right in front of him.
The sand slowly crept out of the gourd, slowly because Gaara knew he was scaring the man who had been identified as "Severus", and didn't want to be cursed with what he could only assume was one of these 'wands' he had been told about by Sirius.
The sand was hovering in the air now in wavy patterns until it started to form into more discernible shapes, the shapes of letters. The letters spelt out 'Hello, my name is Gaara.'
He had to admit, this way was much easier than writing on the wall, though he imagined it would appear a little more conspicuous.
"Hello Gaara, my name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore replied to the silent teen's greeting. "Would I be correct in assuming that you are a wizard?"
'No.'
"Oh," This shocked the aging man, "then, are you a squib?"
Again, 'No'.
"A relative of a witch or wizard, perhaps?" Albus Dumbledore was entirely unsure of what else the boy could have been. Maybe a humanoid magical creature? It would explain the eyes and the panda look.
'No', the sand had deformed and reformed each time the same answer was, but the elderly man still looked more confused than a Suna villager told that Gaara wasn't going to kill them.
'I've never been trained in magic.' Gaara formed in front of himself.
"Hmm... well; it's getting cold out here, why don't we retire inside, have something warm to eat and have a little chat." Albus motioned into the castle, while the other teachers started to wander back inside now that the immediate matter had been resolved, until only one person was left. That one was Remus Lupin.
The ill-looking man walked up to Gaara as they followed the procession into the impressive building and whispered into his ear discretely, "Don't worry, I'll tell our mutual friend what's happening." Before he turned off down a different hallway.
The redhead was glad of this assurance. As much as he loathed his nickname, Sirius had been good to him and he did consider him as something at least resembling a friend. He still wasn't all too sure about the whole friendship thing, but he didn't feel the automatic impulse to murder Sirius so he believed that was a good start.
Eventually, after a number of magnificent halls and quite a few staircases, Gaara's thoughts were interrupted when they arrived at a dead end in a corridor. Gaara surveyed his surroundings and saw nothing of great interest. The only thing that was different from any other hallway they had passed was the large gryphon statue set into the wall.
Sparing a quizzical look towards the old man in front of him, Gaara continued to study the statue that was the only item of interest in sight, except perhaps the ancient man himself, but Gaara was sure he would have plenty of time to find out about him later on.
"Jelly bean." The man said out of the blue, making Gaara question the man's sanity, but fortunately the headmaster of the school was not as senile as he seemed by any means as the gargoyle began to turn, magically, making a loud, familiar grinding sound of stone against stone.
"Please, follow me." The old man said as he stepped towards the hole where the statue had once stood, now replaced by the stone staircase that had spiralled upwards after the gryphon statue.
They both ascended up the narrow staircase until they reached a door which was immediately opened and passed through. Into the large office Gaara followed, and who couldn't help but feel a slight envy at the size and magnitude of the room in comparison to the slightly bleak looking Kazekage's office back in Sunagakure.
Dumbledore had moved to the chair on the far side of the grand desk before motioning for the redhead to sit down also.
As he did, Gaara couldn't help but notice the magnificent bird sitting on a pedestal several feet from the desk. The red and orange bird looked to be made of nothing but flames and grace. Gaara was torn away from admiring the bird by the words spoken by the other human in the room.
"His name is Fawkes. He's a phoenix." The wise old man supplied, as he too gazed at the intelligent bird.
"Now, onto more prudent matters. Mister Gaara, as I understand things, you cannot speak and you have magical potential but have never been taught, is that correct?"
*Nod*
"May I ask, where are you parents?"
Gaara thought about this question, for more than one reason. Firstly, he had to think about whether to reveal that he was technically an orphan, and secondly, he had to think of an appropriate gesture to signal that they were dead after deciding to tell the truth, in part. He didn't want to use his sand to communicate every little message.
Gaara raised his hand and clenched his fist whilst his thumb was pointing outwards, then slowly he slid his thumb across his throat.
Dumbledore seemed to understand, as he said "I am sorry to hear that, as, by the looks of your clothes, you don't have anywhere else to stay. Would you care to join Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
Gaara quickly shook his head. He didn't know where, or in what world he was, but he didn't have time to be in school. Additionally, there was Sirius to consider, who could use all the friends he could get.
"Are you sure I can't change your mind? This school is an enjoyable place to learn and a good base for whatever else you plan to do in life..."
At this Gaara paused; this man knew more than he was letting on and it was a little offsetting. He considered for a while but finally nodded his head slowly and thoughtfully. If he attended this strange school, he could help Sirius find his godson and possibly find a way home.
"Ah, splendid, I'll have Professor McGonagall sort out your paperwork. Term starts on the first of September so I'll arrange for one of the teachers to escort you to Diagon Alley; it's the best place to purchase your school supplies."
One might ask why the great and powerful Albus Dumbledore was so intent on acquiring the unfamiliar young boy and to have him attend Hogwarts that year and the answer would simply be fear. Everything about this boy scared him, more than young Tom had, and more than Gellert when they were lads. He needed to know more about whatever this boy was and what his intentions were. As an added bonus, he could position him to protect Harry this year from Sirius Black. Better safe than sorry.
"Until you go to get your supplies tomorrow, you'll be staying in one of the houses of Hogwarts." Dumbledore pressed the tip of his wand to his desk and spoke clearly "Advoco Snape. Oh, and would you like to visit your home to collect your things, Gaara?"
The Jinchūriki shook his head, wondering idly if he'd forgotten any of his personal affects in the shack; not that he could risk going back there any time soon, anyway.
Several minutes later the door opened to reveal a clearly annoyed Snape.
"You summoned me, headmaster?"
"Yes, Severus. Please show young Gaara here to the Slytherin chambers. He will be attending Hogwarts this year. So I can begin your enrolment, how old are you Gaara?"
Gaara held up his hands and flashed his splayed hand once each signifying ten plus three fingers on one hand. Thirteen overall.
"Perfect, you will be a third year. And could I have your surname?" Albus had to ask since Gaara had failed to offer a proper introduction in the outset.
Gaara understood the concept of second or family names, even if they weren't commonly used in Suna; although, Gaara was in no doubt his father would have denied him any family name that might have humanised him. The headmaster didn't look convinced when Gaara explained briefly that he didn't have one, but didn't press the issue.
Snape, not bothering with any pleasantries led his unlucky-find to the cellars of the large building before he muttered a password quietly and proceeded inside, not bothering to wait for his charge.
The room inside the portal in the wall of the grimy cellar was much more lavish than one would have expected, but Gaara didn't show anything on his face as he continued walking after the gloomy Potions master.
They arrived at a dark oak door at the end of one of the twin hallways and Snape inspected the name plate on the door before opening it to reveal several royal-looking black-wood beds with green and silver sheets matching the various other curtains and tapestries around the room. In all, the place looked quite liveable but for the coldness, but Gaara was all too used to sleeping in cold conditions. Quite a few windows got broken in his house and the desert was as cold during the night as it was hot in the day, with the added bonus of their country's namesake wind.